After the End Comes a Beginning
by savifa
Summary: [postAdventChildren.CloudxTifa] He caught her one morning cooking breakfast for him, a list of earlymorning delivery locations laid out on the mahogany countertop...
1. Part 1

After the End Comes a Beginning;

authors note/copyright thing: I don't own Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. I don't own the characters. Square has all the legal copyrights to them...blahblah...I'm just borrowing a few for this one-shot.

* * *

It had been a couple of months since the healing rain and the disappearance of Geostigma. Cloud had returned to Seventh Heaven, like he had told Denzel he would, with a large weigh lifted from his shoulders and a much more calm and optimistic view on life and the future that lay ahead. There would be the occasional smile from the blond man, the corners of his lips upturning whenever he would hear Tifa reprimanding the children for God knows what or just hearing her scuffling around the bar.

He caught her one morning cooking breakfast for him, a list of early-morning delivery locations laid out on the mahogany countertop.

"Tifa…?"

When her name was uttered the woman promptly lifted her head and glanced over her shoulder at the half-dazed man. His hair was messier than usual and he was still in his pajamas, which was a great indication that he thought it would be a day-off day for him. Usually the weekend never had deliveries.

"What is it?" She asked, her attention returning to the eggs.

"…just surprised seeing you up this early."

She heard the shuffling of his bare feet on the floor and it made her lips turn up into a small smile, the sound of him taking a loud seat on one of the stools only making that small smile turn bigger, and then the wrinkling of paper as he reached and picked up the delivery sheet and the groan only made her grin like a fool. Oh, the morning antics of one Cloud Strife could always get the dark haired woman to be more than amused.

He could be quiet adorable when he wanted to be, or when he didn't know he was.

"I told them the weekends are usually your days off but—"

"Well, it's work," he interrupted, a dull tone to his voice as he turned soft-glowing blue eyes towards her and focused on her back. "I can't ever pass up a delivery run, you know that."

With a small laugh and shake of the head the woman turned and set the plate of breakfast before him, leaning down to brush a kiss against his temple. "Yeah, I do know that… Enjoy your meal and get ready, okay? They want you there before noon to pick up the package, or else they're gonna only pay you half of what you would usually get for this sort of run."

Standing back up she stepped away and smiled at him, giving him a thumbs up before heading towards the stairs and trotting up them. Her foot falls becoming muffled as she moved to the children's room.

But bowing his head a bit the sounds were droned out by the wheels in his head, which were turning faster than they ever should, and his cheeks were starting to heat a bit. She had…kissed his forehead. Sure he got the occasional peck on the cheek but those had been quick and sort of filled with no meaning but this one had lingered a bit and held something.

What, he didn't know, but it was _something_.

So turning to his breakfast he ate it slowly, poking at it and watching the yoke pour down over the egg white, scrambling it all together and then making a sandwich out of it with his toast. It was how he usually ate it, even though it made Tifa wrinkle her nose in that disgusted little way whenever she caught him doing it.

The sight of her wrinkling her nose at him always got Cloud to quirk a brow in confusion and then just go right back to eating. If it was one thing that could faze her it was his weird way of eating things.

And speaking of the woman in thought she came back down the stairs with two children in toe, both dressed and washed up and ready for their trip to the dentist. With a grin he gave the two a 'good morning' and they only nodded in recognition of his words, collapsing into chairs at a table and burying their faces in their arms.

It was quite the amusing sight, if Cloud did say so himself. And he did. But he would never say it out loud, in fear of facing the wrath of two groggy and morning-cranky children.

But a voice brought him from his musings and the sight of a wrinkled nose and ruffled brows made him choke as he swallowed. It had been an unexpected sight, that right there, and his reaction towards it caused Tifa to flail her arms a little before she moved to his side and help him coax the food down.

"Oh, geez Cloud, are you okay!"

"F-Fine," he breathed, holding back a laugh and a chuckle.

"…you sure?"

"I'm sure, Tifa," he murmured with a turn of the head and the tensing of his body at the close proximity of their faces. She was staring at him with worried eyes and her lips were parted slightly, the heat of her breath brushing against his face with every exhale.

…if one willed so he swore he could have just leaned in and kissed her.

But he didn't. Instead the blond cleared his throat and turned back to his empty plate, reaching over for the delivery list again and picking it up to pre-occupy himself with that instead of Tifa. Getting him thinking about what could have happened right then would be a bad thing and hinder him from his delivery abilities. He had to think about the delivery and how long it would take to get to the…chocobo…farm…

Blinking a few times at the location of the pick up delivery Cloud stared and stared and stared some more. Apparently he had skipped over the pick up and just saw the destination of delivery slated for the Gold Saucer.

Shit…

"Tifa…"

"Yeah?" She turned to face him, once again busying herself at the task of cooking breakfast, but for the children and herself. "There something the matter?"

"…it says I have to go to the Chocobo Farm."

"Well…yeah, that's where your pick up is."

"Why?"

The woman blinked at him a few times, obviously taken back by his oblivious nature at the moment. Rubbing the back of her neck she left the tending of the stove to pluck the paper from him and read it over, mumbling what was written to herself while ignoring the confused Cloud.

He was just staring at where the paper had been just in his hands and jumped back a bit when the paper was placed before his face, a slim finger pointing at something written there.

Taking the paper back he read over what she had been pointing to, listening as she returned to cooking. "…to pick up one trailer of racing chocobos, colors include one red, two black, and one yellow. They have been requested by the owner of the Golden Saucer and must be taken there in good condition…"

With another groan Cloud facepalmed, hearing giggles from the children and a laugh from Tifa.

"I'm sorry, Cloud… Like I said, I tried to tell them but they just wouldn't listen. None of the other delivery services would take care of it and, well…"

"I…I understand," he said, voice muffled by his hand and his fingers curled against his bangs. "I'll do it. I have to do it, since it's basically set in stone right about now." So with a reluctant stand the man looked towards the grinning and now-awake Marlene and Denzel before letting eye contact turn to Tifa, her gaze locking with his and she smiled.

"Don't worry, Cloud, you'll be done with it in no time."

With a nod he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, grinning just a bit. "Yeah, you're right… Guess I'll go and get ready and then head off."

Nodding back Tifa turned and walked up to him, reaching up with her hands and smoothed out his hair, fixing it to how it usually looked. "Okay…" Then she leaned up and pressed a small peck to his lips and backed away, arms behind her back and a blush rising to her cheeks. "Don't rush, okay?"

"…okay…"

"And take care of yourself out there; you know I'll be worrying."

"Uh-huh."

And with an embarrassed flush to his cheeks Cloud just moved to the stairs and walked upstairs to get ready for the days delivery of racing chocobos, knowing full well it was going to be one of the best deliveries ever. After all, his childhood crush and secret love had just given him a kiss on the lips.

It would be a great day in deed.


	2. Part 2

**author's note; **I will be as honest as pie right here and say that I wasn't planning on making this a continuation story or anything. But three people hoped for a second chapter and, well, here we go. I catered to the demands because I got to thinking that writing about Cloud going to pick up the chocobos and having to deliver them would be funny. Hopefully…

**disclaimer; **I don't own Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. I don't own the characters. Square has all the legal copyrights to them...

**Kweeeh!**

**or…**

**Are you Coocoo for Chocobos?**

Leading the beloved motorcycle out from the garage Cloud climbed onto it and looked towards the window of Seventh Heaven, seeing two children staring out at him with smiles and waving and a dark haired woman giving a small wave of her hand. Raising his hand in recognition of the farewell he pulled down on his goggle and started up Fenrir, leaving a trail of dust as the man sped off from the bar he called home and on to the delivery for the day.

…

There was a trailer already set up when he arrived at the Chocobo Farm, hearing the familiar 'kweh' and 'wark' coming from the barn not too far away. The pen was filled with a few chocobos and Cloud walked over to the built in fence, fetching for a little pack he always brought with him when he visited the farm and pulled out a Gyshal Green. The smell caught the attention of a small Gold chocobo and the creature turned, trotting over and greeted the blond with a soft coo of gratitude, the beak brushing over the leather gloved hand and nibbling up the treat.

"Been awhile since Tifa or I came to see you, huh girl?"

His free hand was raising and set to rest against the side of the bird's neck, patting the skin through the feathers. There was a soft kweh and the man chuckled a little, offering the creature that he and Tifa had raised since it was just a baby two years prior a smile. "I promise that we'll come and see you more often, but until then just keep up your sweet manners with the others."

And the chocobo seemed to smile a bit at the words, stretching out its neck and nuzzled the side of its face to Cloud's hair, cooing and kweeing happily before trotting off to where a group of yellow and green giant birds were dancing.

"Looks like your sweet little doll of a bird still adores you as ever, Cloud." Turning to the voice Cloud offered a small nod to Chocobo Bill. "But it's great that you were able to come on out here today. That wife of yours kept trying to tell me that the weekend was usually your days off but…well, this just couldn't wait."

"She's not my wife," he replied, scratching his cheek with a gloved finger. "She's special, yes, but we're not married."

For a minute Chocobo Bill looked like he was torn between asking a question or laughing. HE went for the latter of the two and Cloud only shrugged a little; he had said the truth: Tifa was special. She was his friend but she was more than a friend. He just could not bring it in himself to face her and tell her how he felt about her, saying how he wanted to try and take the relationship they had now a step further…

But thoughts like that could wait until later. Right now he was going to have to listen to the briefing the farm owner was going to give him and try his damndest to hook up the trailer to Fenrir. His poor, poor motorcycle. It wasn't going to forgive him for something this, Cloud knew it, so he sent it silent apologies before following the slightly chubby and round man towards the trailer.

Giving the metal trailer a pat on the side a chorus of annoyed noises came from inside and Chocobo Billy emerged, his little sister following after with messed hair filled with chocobos feathers. The girl flashed Cloud a bright smile and she ran over to him, giggling. "Hiya there Cloud! We got all the chocobos loaded for you, so you don't have to worry about doin' anything but delivering them safely to the Golden Saucer!"

Kneeling the blond man reached out and started to fix the girl's hair, a small chuckle slipping from the back of his throat. "Well, thank you for doing all the easy work for me."

"You're weeelcome!" She said with another little giggle and turned to her brother, who only shook his head and rolled his eyes in amusement. "If you're done flirtin' with the chocobo guy then head on inside Chole, alright? You gotta wash up before dinner."

"Okay Billy!"

Watching the little girl give a tiny bow she turned and skipped off towards the house Cloud stood slowly and eyed the trailer. "The one red, two black, and one yellow are in there, right?"

"'Course!"

With a small nod Cloud turned and headed to where Fenrir waited, the motorcycle almost giving off a vibe of annoyance as he started to guide it back and towards the trailer, the wheels squeaking as they managed to tie it to the bike, and it groaned angrily when he started it up. The angry growl got the chocobos in the trailer to wark in anger at the man and he sighed softly to himself.

"Good luck Cloud, have fun on your delivery! The owner will pay you as soon as you get there!"

With another small sigh Cloud just took the luck and left. He sure as hell was going to need all the luck he could be getting by that time, for it was going to be a long, long day.

…

It hadn't taken long to arrive in Junon and situate everything and board the boat, taking his stay down below with Fenrir and the chocobos.

The occasional crew member would walk past and stare oddly at the trailer, hearing soft kweh-ing coming from the inside before eyeing the blond sitting on a cargo box before tiptoeing away. Apparently, they had never seen a man with a motorcycle and a trailer full of chocobos. Then again, they were probably wondering how the trailer had been attached to the motorcycle.

It even surprised Cloud to see that Billy and Bill had been able to attach said trailer to his beloved motorcycle, which he leaned over to pat a bit. The bike was his pride and joy, one inanimate object that he could actually fuss over and adore without Tifa giving him a look of confusion, one of those slender brown brows rose in a manner that read 'what the hell?' and the blond would only just stare right back at her, mirroring her expression with one of his own.

Inevitably the two would go about a face-making sort of competition until one or the other cracked.

Tifa always cracked first.

Cloud chuckled a little, reaching into his pocket to get out his phone and stare down at it. Flipping it over the man stared at the background image, blinking in surprise at it. Denzel or Marlene must have put it on when he was asleep, which was something they tended to do quite a lot. The week before he found out he had a new ring tone thanks to Marlene, and his phone settings were a little different thanks to Denzel. But this was something he couldn't get upset at the kids about.

The little background image was of a shot of the four of them from the party. All of them were sitting on the front steps of Seventh Heaven under the setting sky, Tifa leaning heavy up against Cloud with her head on her shoulder and the children on their laps: Denzel to Tifa's and Marlene to Cloud's. They looked like a happy little family and it made him wonder how the picture had been taken…

Probably Yuffie and her 'master ninja skills', as she liked to call them. Cloud saw them as an annoyance, especially when Denzel and Marlene got involved on learning them. It usually ended up with one of the children messing up and breaking something, and then Tifa or he would have to flinch at the sound and punish Yuffie. No, not the children but Yuffie herself. The children's punishment came after the young ninja pouted and said how lame they were being before leaving and heading to the inn.

But he pressed in a few numbers and lifted the black object up, holding it against the side of his face with a calm expression over his features as he just sat there on the box and listened to the ringing until the other end was picked up a soft 'Hello?' filled his ear.

"Hey, Tifa." A pause as he waited for her response, which got a small smile to twitch to his lips. "Yeah, it's me. I'm on the boat to Costa right now, and then I'll be heading over to the Golden Saucer…" He blinked, listening to her sleep tone and wondered just what time it was over in Edge, probably an hour or two differences, but it was still only mid-afternoon.

Maybe he had woken her up or she had been planning on laying down for awhile? Those little facts made him feel bad.

"Did I wake you up or catch you had a bad time?" And he chuckled when she tried to convince him that she had been wide awake the entire time. It was apparent she wanted him to believe it, too. "Yeah, I'm sure you had been awake. Anyway, how did the appointment for Denzel and Marlene go?" A few moments of silence, the only sound that of the boat being lapped at by water and the occasional mumble and conversation coming from the crew members.

"Uh huh. Well, good. I'm glad that they're in good shape. But just keep Marlene away from the sweets, okay? I know how she can get when you get candy within a fifteen foot radius of her." And Tifa's little laugh made him smile a bit more. It amazed him how at ease just listening to her voice could make him feel.

God, did he love her.

But as that thought fluttered through his mind Cloud froze, surprised that it had even crossed through and Tifa's voice drowned out, muffled by his shock. Why had he… Well, of course he cared about her, he always had been, even when Aerith had been a part of their group and had thrown out her flirting towards him. But the only person he ever really cared about was Tifa, her opinion seemed to matter the most out of all the others and…he just felt at ease with her, even after knowing she had been keeping things from him because of her fear.

Aerith had been like a sister to him, someone who carried a spiritual and guiding sort of light. He just felt like he had the duty to protect her, keep her safe, because he had told her he would. She acted like a spiritual mother to him while he had Geostigma and helped him, those couple of months ago.

For that he was thankful.

And Tifa's soft but worried voice carried him from his thoughts and to reality, blue eyes widening in surprise that he had been ignoring her to go into his own land of un-reality for a moment.

"I'm…I'm here, Tifa, sorry. I guess I must have gotten lost in my own head for a bit." Her sigh and laugh made him chuckle. "I'll be home in a couple of hours, all right?" He smiled, and it was evident in his voice "Yeah, yeah, I know… Don't keep them up if I get back after dinner." His head nodded slowly. "I promise to be careful, Tifa. You don't have anything to worry about."

But he knew how she could be; she worried a lot, even over such trivial things, but it seemed to him that he worried her the most and that…the fact made him frown. The last thing he ever wanted was her to worry over his stupid spiky headed ass.

…he blinked.

Yeah, Barret was seriously starting to rub off on him if he was starting to think of himself as that.

"The boat whistle just went off, which means we'll be docking soon. I have to get Fenrir ready and the chocobos too. So don't worry yourself, okay Teef?" There was a relunctant reply and he grinned. "Tell the kids I miss them." He waited, his voice fading and he slid off the box, moving to Fenrir. "…I miss you too, and I'll be back soon. I promise. Bye, Teef, I'll talk to you later."

And just as she said goodbye he stopped her with a small 'uh' and swallowed, the next set of words coming out with the most natural flow. "I love you, Tifa." And then he hung up, feeling his cheeks burning a bright red as a few crew members made swooning and kissing sounds at the more than embarrassed man.


End file.
